A good idea, well-executed and with value to the customer now, and in the future, is the key to any good product and its longevity. For FORCEnet that good idea is large-scale, complex field experimentation, which takes the best of new capabilities to sea from the systems commands (SYSCOMS), industry and academia. Trident Warrior 08 is the sixth of this successful series, which will take place this summer.
TW is planned and executed by a well-seasoned, experienced and expert planning staff comprised of Naval Network Warfare Command (NETWARCOM) N-9 directorate and Naval Postgraduate School subject matter experts and leaders from the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) with specific skills in experiment design and operational planning.
Experimentation is a cost-effective means by which to acquaint the fleet with FORCEnet. TW08 is the largest and most complex afloat experiment to date, encompassing more than 150 independent experiment threads. Every Trident Warrior is conducted in partnership with a numbered fleet command. Products are tested and verified resulting in recommendations for acquisition of new or improved capabilities for the warfighter.
Third Fleet units of the USS Bonhomme Richard Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG) and coalition units will participate in the Western Pacific. Participants will include U.S. Navy ships and staffs and those from England, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Specifically they include: Pacific Fleet, Third Fleet, Seventh Fleet, Amphibious Squadron 7, USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19), USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6), USS Germantown (LSD 42), USS Pearl Harbor (LSD 52), USS Lake Erie (CG 70), USS Port Royal (CG 73), USS Milius (DDG 69), USS Chung Hoon (DDG 93), USS Decatur (DDG 73), HMCS Ottawa (FFH 341), HMCS Regina (FFH 334), HMNZS Te Kaha (F77) and HMAS Anzac (FFH 150).
The Trident Warrior series is aimed to help the Navy gain valuable insights on which to base smart fiscal and technical decisions for the future of FORCEnet development. Continued support of both the defense and information technology industries is essential. From the very beginning Trident Warrior experiments have accomplished measurable results for more than 200 individual technologies and procedures from Navy, Marine Corps, Army and Air Force programs of record.
More than 100 emergent technologies from industry both large and small have been tested "at sea." Many new technologies have now transitioned into programs of record. Focusing on FORCEnet capabilities that remain as leave behinds for participating ships, the Trident Warrior series has worked with more than 50 U.S. and 15 coalition ships.
Experimentation is organized in major categories called "focus areas" which were originally derived from the fleet's top 10 warfighter gaps and fleet collaborative team influence but are now linked to the NETWARCOM FORCEnet Enterprise Capability Plan.
Findings have immediately resulted in Office of the Chief of Naval Operations Program Objective Memorandum (POM) decisions. Results of testing have verified or altered SYSCOM program of record development, thus speeding up fleet delivery. Additionally, Trident Warrior has generated more than 100 formal DOTMLPF (doctrine, organization, training, materiel, leadership, personnel and facilities) recommendations that have been presented to the Sea Trial Executive Steering Group.
A brief history of the Trident Warrior experimentation series, and its evolution, helps to illustrate the range of this important event.
• TW03, conducted with Third Fleet and the USS Essex ESG, tested dynamic, multipath and survivable networks. TW03 was linked to the Joint Task Force Wide Area Relay Network (JTF WARNET), a Navy Research Laboratory initiative that grew from an Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration. Leave behinds included an Inter Battle Group Wireless Network.
• TW04, conducted